Legal Marijuana Should be Sold by Storefront and Mail Order: Task Force

A federal task force on legalized recreational marijuana is recommending storefront and mail-order sales to Canadians 18 years and older, with personal growing limits of four plants per person.

The framework report, headed by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, says recreational marijuana should not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco, and that production should be monitored with a “seed-to-sale tracking system” to prevent diversions to the black market.

The study gives shape to a Liberal promise to the legalize recreational pot consumption and sales, with safeguards in place to restrict youth access and choke off the illicit market that fuels criminal enterprises.

“We have discovered that regulation of cannabis will touch every aspect of our society,” says the 106-page report.

“One of the predominant features of our deliberations has been the diversity of opinions, emotions and expertise expressed by those who came forward.”

The 106-page framework covers everything from advertising and branding — effectively banned, similar to tobacco — to penalties for illicit production and trafficking, all legislated under a proposed new Cannabis Control Act.

On the issue of pot-impaired driving, the task force recommends more study to determine the links between THC levels and traffic crashes while simultaneously developing a national education strategy to stress that cannabis consumption causes impairment.